


GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM

by ChristiWinchester03



Category: Merlin - Fandom
Genre: Bullies, M/M, Magic Reveal, Magic Revealed, Protective Arthur, S1E10 The Moment Of Truth never happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22617406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChristiWinchester03/pseuds/ChristiWinchester03
Summary: Merlin decided to tell Arthur his secrets and leaves for Ealdor as Arthur thinks
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 77





	GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM

**Author's Note:**

> As the tags said, the moment of trust never happened, you know the episode when Ealdor was attacked and Will died? Never happened

Merlin stood nervously in front of Arthurs chambers biting his lip, he was gonna tell the prince about his magic, he didn't want to hide, not from Arthur. He carefully opened the door, without knocking and silently walked over to Arthurs desk. Merlin stood there silently for a solid half-minute before Arthur looked up at Merlin ~~worriedly~~ suspiciously.

”...yes? What is it, Merlin?” Arthur had stopped writing, giving the boy in front of him his full attention.

”...Arthur, I umm, have something important that I want to tell you...” Merlin looked down at his feet.

”...Well before I tell you I should probably say, that you mean everything to me and I would never hurt you, because I love you...and not like in a friend way...erm more like umm, in a way you feel for a lover...” Merlin was speaking much faster than how he started.

”Merlin...” Arthur stared dumbstruck.

”No! Let me finish, please!” Merlin begged, and Arthur just nodded.

”umm, now that that's out of the way, erm the umm other secret...I umm, I erm...i have...magic? And I swear on my mother's life, I've never used it for evil, mostly to save your life and for Camelot, even your father, so erm...” He looked up at the fireplace and his eyes turned golden before the flames lit up.

”...I’ll go to my room, let you think, umm, see ya?” Merlin finally looked up at Arthur who just started back astonished. Merlin hurried out of the room leaving Arthur alone.

***

For the longest time, Arthur just sat there staring at the door, not only did Merlin love him, but he had magic! Arthur didn't know what do do, because Merlin couldn't be evil, that much was clear. Shit, the boy he had a tiny ~~huge~~ crush on had just confessed to him! And he had magic, but he didn't use it for evil, so that had to count for something! Arthur walked over to his window, there was someone out there? This late? Arthur looked closer only to realise that it was Merlin with a horse...he was leaving, Arthur knew he wouldn't be able to catch up with him, not when he had no idea where the boy was going, so he went to Gaius. His heart was beating like crazy when he rushed into the physician's chambers.

” Where is he going?! Gaius! Where is Merlin going!” Gaius walked calmly over and placed his hand on the prince's shoulder.

”You must breathe, my boy, he isn't running away, he'll come back if you want him to that is.” Gaius said the last part carefully.

”Of course I want him back! he can't just leave before I have even had the time to react to his magic!” Arthur quickly closed his mouth when he mentioned Merlin's magic, Gaius did know, right? He had to! Gaius nodded, and Arthur let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding.

”Arthur, this is a big deal for Merlin, you're the first one he has ever told willingly. Everyone else that knows just found out accidentally. Merlin went to Ealdor to stay for a week or two, giving you some time to think.” Arthur seemed to calm down, Merlin was coming back! He wasn't running away to never be seen again!

”...wait, who knows about this? Is everyone a lot of people, or?” Arthur hoped that someone with bad intentions hadn't found out. Gaius smiled at him, knowing that Merlin didn’t have to worry about the prince’s reaction.

”Well, of course, his mother found out pretty quickly, I believe Merlin mentioned a childhood friend to me, I found out when he saved my life on our first meeting...Lancelot found out...He saw Merlin using magic to defeat the gryphon.” Arthur was kind of hurt that Lancelot found out before him, but tried to not let it show.

”Ok then...I’ll get going then.” Arthur said on his way out of the door.

***

Merlin had been riding for around 5 hours before he reached Ealdor, he didn’t want to wake anyone so he tied his horse to a tree and snuck into his mothers house as quietly as he could, his mother would definitely be surprised to see her son sleeping at home, but he could explain himself tomorrow, he decided and went to sleep.

Merlin woke up the next day to the sound of his mother humming to the lullaby she always sang to Merlin when he was little, Merlin stretched out before he sat up in his bed.

”Good morning Merlin, care to tell me why you’re home?” Hunith said worriedly with her back to him, Merlin just walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek.

”Nothing bad happened, right? Was it Prince Arthur, you always write so fondly about him.” Hunith the turned around to face her son, she put her hand on his cheek before dragging him down into a hug.

”I hope not...And yes, it is about Arthur.” Merlin whispered.

”What happened my boy?” Hunith stroke his hair like she did when Merlin was feeling down.

”I told him. About my Magic, and my...” Hunith sighed, she had probably guessed that's what had happened.

”and your what, Merlin? Your feelings? You love him, don't you? I can tell by the way you write about him.” Merlin just nodded into her neck and hugged her tighter, it felt good to come home, to have his mum comfort him again.

”I left before he responded, told Gaius to tell him that I'll come back, just wanted to give him some space, you know?” Hunith probably wasn't too happy with that solution, but she nodded nonetheless.

”Welcome home, Merlin.” she smiled and served him breakfast.

***

Arthur tried, but he wasn’t able to sleep that night, he was to busy thinking about his friend’s confession...Or maybe a friend was the wrong word...Arthur preferred the word boyfriend, not that he would tell anyone that, at least he hadn't planned to before Merlin confessed. Yes, he was angry about the magic, but mostly because he knew if his father found out...no he couldn't think like that, he was going to Ealdor tomorrow, they would find a way to keep this secret, to keep on like they always did.

It wasn't too hard to convince Uther to let him go, Arthur lied and said it was his job as a prince to make sure everything is as it should in the outer villages. He had packed everything he needed and met up with sir Leon in the courtyard, Uther wanted him to have at least one knight with him, so Arthur picked Leon, his best friend, if anything happened he knew he could trust Leon

They had been riding for about two hours, they had had a pleasant conversation, they always had, but suddenly Arthur got quiet.

”...Leon, what I'm gonna ask now is as a friend, not as the prince of Camelot, ok?” Arthur didn't look at him, but he could feel the worried look burning into the side of his head, and through the corner of his eyes, he saw Leon nodding.

”...Hypothetically speaking...what would you say, or do if I was...harbouring a sorcerer?” Leon coughed surprised and looked at the prince with wide eyes, Arthur looked at him with unsure eyes, could he ask Leon this question? Leon sighed and looked over at his friend.

”That depends, Arthur...has this sorcerer hurt you or Camelot? Would this sorcerer ever hurt you or Camelot?” Arthur widened his eyes and was fast to reply.  
”No! He wouldn't! He told me that he’d always stay by my side, I trust hi...” Arthur cursed under his breath, he had revealed way too much for this to only be hypothetically speaking!

”So you are hiding a sorcerer...” Arthur didn't say anything, it was too late to object anyways.

”I hope you know what you're doing Arthur...He could have cast a spell on you to make you say all these things...” Leon said the last words carefully.

”I'm not under a spell Leon! I...how do I even prove that I'm not?!” Leon raised his hand to his chin.

”Hmm...If I remember correctly, you shouldn't be able to insult said sorcerer if you were under a spe...” Leon starter only to be interrupted by Arthur snorting.

”Insulting him won't be a problem! He's an idiot, with a stupid smile and stupid face, and a....a clot pole! Honestly, it’s a surprise that that idiot is still alive! I can’t believe I didn’t see it before, it’s quite obvious he has magic, really!” Arthur huffed, Leon just stared at him for a moment before answering.

”...Umm...Arthur? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way you describe this...sorcerer of yours...it sounds like you're talking about...” Leon cleared his throat before continuing.

”...Is Merlin this sorcerer?” Arthur's face stiffened, and his eyes went wide.

”...Leon...” Arthur said warningly.

”Wait, he's actually a sorcerer? Merlin??” Leon seemed to take the hint by the look of Arthur's eyes and quickly added.

”I won't tell anyone, he's a good friend of mine too, you know...and even if he wasn't you obviously trust him. The secret is safe with me.” Arthur seemed to calm down by this.

”...He told me yesterday...and then he ran away to Ealdor...Gaius said that he’ll come back soon after I've had time to think...” Leon looked at him sympathetically.

”So that's where we're going then, Ealdor.” Arthur nodded, happy that Leon understood and trusted both him and Merlin.

***

Merlin felt quite relaxed now that he was home, the first thing the boy did was to find Will, Merlin told Will about the situation and Will threatened to kill Arthur if he ever hurt his best friend, Merlin missed this, he missed home and he was finally here.

But of course, there were always those who picked on Merlin and teased him, Merlin had always been the outcast, they might not know about Merlin's magic, but the kids his age always thought of him as a freak.

”Oh look who’s back! If it isn't Merlin, Camelot finally noticed how much of a freak you are?” one of the boys said with a mocking grin, Merlin just rolled his eyes and tried to drag Will away.

”Oh, shut up Edward! Don't you have anything better to do?!” this always happened, Merlin tried to ignore them, but Will had always had other plans. One of the other boys walked up.

”Hey, big ears, did they Banish you? Knowing your clumsiness you probably fell and knocked over the prince or something.” well it wasn't too far of the truth... Will stepped in and the boys stopped laughing.

”You know, Merlin and the prince are actually old friends! I don't think his majesty would appreciate some farm boys talking shit about his friends!” Goddammit, Will, he might as well step in, it's true after all.

”pfft...BWAHAHA Did you hear that, boys! Merlin here and the prince of Camelot are old pals!” Edward was clutching his stomach laughing.

”I do, actually and I'm proud to call him my friend! He's a bit of a Pratt, but at least he's not a bully ~~anymore~~!” Merlin crossed his arms over his chest. Edward put his hand on Merlin's shoulder, Will tried to interfere, but the two other boys kept him busy.

”you know, _Merlin,_ pretending to know a prince and insulting him is treason... I could get a few coins if I rat you out...” Edward smiled and he pushed Merlin into a wall. Merlin wanted to say something about introducing them some time, but Merlin had no idea if Arthur ever wanted to see him again. Arthur most likely hated him after the night before anyway. Edward smirked and raised his hand and hit Merlin, he would most definitely get a black eye later.

”HEY YOU! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!” A voice yelled from behind.

”And who do you think you a...” Edwards's mouth fell open when he turned around because in front of him stood two angry knights with Camelot red capes.

”...Arthur...? What the hell are you doing here?” Was he here to tell him to stay in Ealdor? That he never wanted him to return to Camelot?

”well since you obviously can't take care of yourself, I have to. Really Merlin can't even take down one farmer on your own, didn't you listen those times you joined practice?!” Merlin's heart jumped, he didn't seem angry, in fact, they were bantering like it was a normal day.

”You should know by now that I hardly ever listen to anything you say, _sire.”_ Merlin smirked as he added the normal amount of disrespect on the title. To his surprise, Arthur huffed out a laugh and got back to the serious glance. He nodded towards Will and looked back at Merlin.

”is that William? Your friend?” Merlin just nodded.

”Leon deals with Williams err... _friends_ over there, I'll deal with this one. Edward looked like he was just about to wet his breeches when Arthur came closer.

”you know...I don't really look lightly at people who bully and beat up my friends, or anyone else for that matter.” Arthur's hand clutched on the sword handle, he walked over to his horse and drew out another sword(because who doesn't have two swords) and threw it to the ground by Edwards's feet And drew out his own, but before Edward had found the guts to pick up the sword, Merlin picked it up.

”Nope, Absolutely not, Arthur, you're not fighting Edward! He might be a bully, but he's also a farm boy, everyone here is, he can't fight, so please for the love of God lay down the sword.” Merlin said quite fast, but confident, Arthur had called him a friend, which means he doesn't hate him and might listen to him. 

Arthur seemed to think it through before putting the sword away without breaking eye contact with Edward.

”Come on, Edward... Let's go...” Edwards friends came up behind him, both of them were obviously anxious, Leon had probably given them an ass whopping, Edward did a sorry excuse of a bow before running away.

”Ha! Take that!” Will yelled after them.

The next few minutes were just filled with awkward silence, Arthur trying to calm himself down knowing that he would throw a fit if he said anything, Merlin not knowing what to say with Will standing protective at his side not trusting the knight's morals, and Leon not sure what he should say either.

”...You're not gonna hurt him, are you?” Will finally said, with a dangerous tone, Arthur growled.

”no! I just wanna talk for god sake!” Arthur said as a matter of fact as Leon slowly backed away, but not unnoticed as Arthur dragged him back into the circle.

”You’re not leaving. If Merlins allowed to have emotional support then so do I.” Leon looked slightly uncomfortable but understood where he came from. Merlin eyed Leon and then Arthur carefully.

”Does he...know?” Merlin was fiddling nervously with his fingers as Arthur nodded. Leon wasn’t gonna hurt him if Arthur isn’t right?

”I didn’t tell him, he guessed it was you when I asked for advice, I mean it’s not every day you find out the most important person in your life is a sorcerer.” Merlin blushed, the most important? But then he looked down slightly ashamed.

”We need to talk, don’t we?” Merlin groaned, he wasn’t prepared to have this talk, not now, he would like to have some time preparing his dialogue, you know?

”That’s the whole point of me being here, Merlin, of course, we're gonna have to talk...And not only about the magic.” Merlin bit his lip.

” I think I would like to have that talk in private...” Merlin looked down ashamed, if Arthur didn’t hate him for the magic, he’d definitely hate him be a of the...confession.

”yeah, that’s fair...” Arthur’s cheeks turned red.

”but i think maybe we all should talk about the magic considering that Leon found out.” Merlin looked at Leon and then nodded at Arthur. 

“we can talk at my place, Don’t want _Edward_ to listen” Will said looking at the prince and knight obviously still suspicious about them.

***

”so, magic then.” Arthur said with a raised eyebrow as soon as Will closed the door. Arthur was still kind of surprised that _Merlin_ of all people could practise magic, but he had gotten over the shock, Leon on the other hand flinched each time someone mentioned magic and looked surprised at how calmly Arthur said it.

”Erm, yeah...but umm, you should know, I never used it against Camelot! Only to protect you I swear!” Merlin said with an obvious hint of panic.

”Merlin. Relax, if I thought you used it for evil we wouldn’t talk like this. There’s no way you’re evil. Magic or not, I mean you cry over unicorns!” Arthur mocked with a small genuine smile on his face.

”oh...yes, naturally, erm...” Merlin seemed to have calmed down as he tried to hide (and failed miserably if Arthur might add) a smile.

”I have a question though. Why would you start to practice magic? And when? I'm assuming you only know small spells to get away with chores?” William snorted at the last part and Arthur looked at him questionably.

”You know, Merlin isn't exactly someone you would call weak. He was born with it. Could definitely take down all of Camelot’s knights in less than one blow.” Will said proudly only to get elbowed _Merlin._

_”Will! I’m trying to prove I’m an ally of Camlot, not an enemy!” hissed Merlin._

”AI! sorry!” Will gave out a short laugh.

” _you’re_ powerful?” Arthur said unbelieving, Merlin didn't strike him as someone who could take down an army, especially not Camelots.

“Ah, erm yes, umm I’ve been told by the druids an umm, the great dragon that I’m the most...powerful sorcerer to ever exist??” Arthur almost didn’t believe his ears and looked over at William.

” _Merlin?”_ Leon and Arthur said synchronised.

”well don’t look at me!” Will said clearly a little irritated.

”umm...we clearly need to talk more about this, but erm you should know that I won’t tell my father and neither will Leon, and you’re welcome to come back to Camelot with the two of us.” Arthur said Awkwardly, not really knowing what to do with the information of Merlin being powerful.

Merlin's eyes lit up and his slightly open mouth gave out that same wide smile that Arthur loved so much.

”Come on now, let's go somewhere...more private. There's something else we need to discuss.” Arthur said, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, to talk about...feelings, yeah, he wasn't really good at it, like at all, but he should at least try.

”erm...yeah, my mum is out, so, we could probably talk at home?” Arthur chuckled at Merlin's red face and nodded, leaving Leon alone with William.

***

”so, what did you want to talk about?” Merlin knew damn well what this conversation was gonna be a boy, but he was too embarrassed to admit it, at least now.

”You know what this is about! So, don't pretend you don't remember confessing!” Arthur said in a mocking manner, Was that a friendly banter or can't can't believe you're into men, that's disgusting!’ and Merlin didn't really feel like thinking about it.

”...So?...” Merlin's voice trembled slightly, he sounded like an idiot!.

”...so, what?” And Arthurs obliviousness strikes again.

”say something, you idiot!” Merlin had a headache, was this something they were just gonna ignore and pretend like didn't happen?

”oh...i, well...shit...Merlin...augh, fuck it!” Arthur said before his lips met Merlins, Merlin didn't kiss back for the longest time, he was to busy thinking about what the hell was happening, but as soon as he calmed down enough, he deepened the kiss. Merlin's heart was beating like crazy! Arthur was kissing him! His best friend and crush! Merlin couldn't believe it! 

”Ahem!” Arthur and Merlin quickly got off of each other and looked at the source of the sound. It was his mother! Merlin hid his face in his hand as Arthur looked up at the food avoiding eye contact with Hunith.

”You must be Prince Arthur, Merlin has written about you” Hunith smiled at Arthur, and it seemed like it had calmed him down.

”Mother! I most certainly have not!” Merlin's voice cracked and he knew that Arthur didn't believe him in the slightest. He looked over at the blonde prince to see him smirking. Oh, God.

”you've written about me _Merlin?”_ he teased. Merlin glared at him and whispered a weak ’Pratt’.

”what was that? _Merlin,_ Do you know who I am? You can't address me like that!” Merlin was glad to finally banter with Arthur again

”oh, I know who you are alright! You're a Pratt and a royal one!” Merlin smirked when Arthur gave out a loud laugh. When he calmed down Arthur turned to his mother and cleared his throat.

” ah, I'm sorry, it seems I have forgotten to introduce myself. I'm Arthur, Arthur Pendragon, but simply Arthur will do.” Hunith smiled up at the prince.

”nice to finally meet you, Arthur. I'm hunith...And I believe I can trust you to take care of my son?” Arthur nodded only to be interrupted by Merlin.

”I do not need to be ’taken care of’!” Merlin was offended, he could take care of himself! Hunith sighed and Arthur huffed before answering in sync.

”yes you do”


End file.
